


Predator and Prey

by HPFandom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, M/M, Sexual Content, Slash, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-07-15
Updated: 2004-07-15
Packaged: 2018-09-30 19:45:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10170416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPFandom_archivist/pseuds/HPFandom_archivist
Summary: 300-word drabble.  Harry has a hard time accepting accepting the loss of his godfather, and Severus of course, is Slytherin about it. Unbetaed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HP Fandom](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HP_Fandom_\(archive\)), which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HP Fandom collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hpfandom/profile).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters depicted here, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. Absolutely no profit is being made from this. 

 

****

Predator and Prey

The boy is no longer angry—that tumultuous stage has passed. No longer does he hurl insults recklessly, heedless of their target; nor does he lash out at the closest body unfortunate enough to be near him, as he once had. He had made that mistake, once—intending me to be the mark of his rage, his guilt, his despair. I bit my tongue and absorbed his vitriol. But make no mistake; my self-restraint was in no way due to any misguided feelings of… sympathy for the boy on my part.

No, I remained silent because I knew what was to come next. Slowly, he would stop reaching out to his friends. In time, he would start making himself extinct when various Order members would stop by for a few days between assignments. A self-imposed isolation, if you will. His appetite would eventually lessen, and he would start to appear only sporadically at meals. He would soon withdraw until his whole world existed solely within the confines of his own mind, his heart heavy with the burden of his godfather's death. Sleep will become a rare commodity, and his midnight forays in the house at Grimmauld Place would become more and more frequent. Fortunately, I rarely sleep too, and I'm sure a warm cup of tea would be soothing to his troubled mind—even from his nasty, greasy potions master.

Of course, his trust will not be easily won by someone he’s known only as his enemy—but I am, if nothing, methodical and persistent; and have been known in the past to be an extremely patient man when I find the prize worthwhile. I have no doubt that I will be the victor in the arduous task of gaining the boy’s confidence. And once accomplished, it is then that the slightest kind word, the barest comforting touch would be grasped at; like a drowning man a life-preserver. And it is then that I will be ready. 

As soon as the time comes, when he is ready to release his heavy burden and confess his transgressions, imagined and real, the boy will know my soothing words of comfort; he will know my loving caress. "Shh, Potter, it wasn't your fault," I will murmur to his temple as I rock him gently in an embrace meant to console, stroking his unkempt hair and shedding crocodile tears miraculously conjured from a virtually non-existent soul. And it is then that I will gently guide him backwards toward the coverlet, his body and will yielding to mine, as my kiss surely absolves him of all his sins.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


End file.
